Neighbors set to sue Hartman on development

The Cibolo Creek Conservation Society has notified Gordon Hartman of its intent to sue him and the city for harming endangered species from his development of the 527-acre Century Oaks development. In September the group rented a helicopter to fly over the property. Photo courtesy of The Cibolo Creek Conservation Society

The Cibolo Creek Conservation Society has notified Gordon Hartman of its intent to sue him and the city for harming endangered species from his development of the 527-acre Century Oaks development. In September the group rented a helicopter to fly over the property. Photo courtesy of The Cibolo Creek Conservation Society

Photo By Darren Abate/Darren Abate/For The Express-New

Attorney Brad Rockwell, left, points to a map showing planned development in the Century Oaks subdivision, as Annalisa Peace, center, of the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, and Tom Tobin, president of the Hidden Oaks Homeowners Association, look on, Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012, in San Antonio.

Photo By Mike Fisher

Photo By For the Express-News

Gordon Hartman in 2012.

Gordon Hartman is back in the development business, and his latest project that would turn a 527-acre ranch into a 1,493-house subdivision on the far Northeast Side is causing problems with the neighbors, who claim he is violating the Endangered Species Act and threatening San Antonio's water supply.

After attempts to meet with Hartman and city officials about the subdivision failed, the neighbors Thursday announced their intention to sue Hartman, the city, the San Antonio Water System and the Judson Independent School District in federal court for not doing their part to protect the land and the Edwards Aquifer.

Conflicts like this tend to arise on the far North Side, still a sought-after area for residential construction, especially as that industry picks up, though also home to the most environmentally sensitive land in the county because of the aquifer.

The land, which is off Evans Road, has five caves and is covered with a mixture of mesquite, open grasslands and oaks. For two decades, developers have put forth various plans for it, including golf courses and large-lot luxury homes. Now, Hartman's development will have more than three homes per acre.

Since May, neighbors have listened to bulldozers drive through what they call habitat for endangered golden-cheeked warblers. They say they've seen the federally protected birds on their properties and point out that the development is less than a mile from a preserve set up to protect the species.

The caves on Hartman's land feed directly into the aquifer and could be home to other endangered species, they say.

Hartman denies the allegation and has not paid the fine, saying the cave was filled when he bought the land and that a homeowners' association paid for the cleanup.

He said he was surprised by the opponents' threat of legal action.

“I don't ignore neighborhood groups,” said Hartman, who founded the San Antonio Scorpions soccer team and Morgan's Wonderland, an amusement park for special needs children.

Hartman said he'd be happy to talk to the group members, but probably wouldn't go along with their primary demand: decrease the number of homes.

“There's already been a plan in place and approved,” he said, noting construction started about six months ago.

In 2005, Hartman sold his companies and retired as a developer and builder to focus on the Gordon Hartman Family Foundation. He said the foundation takes up “90 percent” of his time, but he now is doing “a little bit of development.”

Neighbors complain officials aren't listening to their concerns because they live outside the city limits so no City Council member represents them, and they don't share the political clout of the developers.

“We couldn't even find an attorney in San Antonio to take the case,” opponent Tom Tobin said.

His spokeswoman, former mayoral candidate Trish DeBerry, said Powell is deferring to Hartman to answer questions, since his firm owns the property.

Dan Kossl, who also works at Bitterblue, serves as a planning commissioner for San Antonio. The commission approved revised plans for Hartman's development Aug. 22, and the minutes show Kossl recused himself during the vote.

SAWS is responsible for enforcing the city's impervious cover limits. Normally, a project on the outskirts of the city over the Edwards recharge zone only could cover 15 percent of a property with roofs or roads, which limits the polluted runoff going into the aquifer.

But because this project inherited the development rights given before those limits were in place, it can proceed with its proposed 47 percent impervious cover, SAWS says.

Judson ISD has plans to put in an elementary and middle school there, but has not moved forward besides doing a study that found the land was not occupied by warblers.

But the contention of the neighborhood group is that a study, done with a single site visit by a biologist to see if the habitat is likely to have endangered species, is not the same as a survey, which requires multiple visits.

A survey is what the city of San Antonio asks developers to complete if they are building in an area likely to have endangered species.

When filling out the city's habitat compliance form, Hartman said he did a survey for warblers and the endangered invertebrates that may live in the caves and submitted that to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is responsible for protection of endangered species.

But a request to the USFWS showed surveys had not been submitted.

Gene Dawson of Pape-Dawson Engineers, which did much of the environmental work for Hartman, said the fact that Hartman was not accurate on the form he filed with the city was not significant.

He said the form is merely designed to make sure developers and the USFWS had a dialog about complying with the Endangered Species Act and that had happened.

He noted there would be buffers of undeveloped land around the caves to protect any endangered species and water flowing into the aquifer.

He also said his company's study found there was no warbler nesting habitat and so a survey was not needed.

“Mr. Hartman believes he is complying with the Endangered Species Act,” Dawson said, and will continue with his plans.